Out of thin air
by Siraminf
Summary: What happens when Harry really wants to get away from the Dursleys, and succeed at a young age
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Harry had thought his day couldn't get any worse, but now he realized that it actually could. First aunt Petunia had been in a bad mood all morning, which led her to give him a lot more chores than usual, and find fault in everything he did, then uncle Vernon had returned from work earlier than usual, and in a bad mood as well, and he would do far worse than criticise and shout at him. Dudley had been his usual bullying self all day, of course, and he didn't even have his friends to distract him. Harry hated the summer holidays. The worst part however had been that aunt Marge (who was actually Vernon's sister, but Harry had to call her aunt all the same, despite their mutual dislike) was coming for a visit (the reason for aunt Petunia's behaviour), and Marge had brought along her bulldog Ripper, the reason why Harry was perched in a tree right now, with a bloody leg after the dog bit him.

Ripper was standing under the tree, along with aunt Marge, berating him for taunting Ripper, and uncle Vernon, bellowing at him to come down, which he had no intention of doing, right now sleeping in the tree sounded like a pretty good idea, the problem to that being that it wasn't a very big tree, and while Harry was able to get out of his relatives reach, the branch he was sitting on was far from sturdy, and could barely hold his weight...and not for long, suddenly it broke, and Harry found himself sprawled on the ground, his right arm hurting terribly. He saw uncle Vernon coming towards him with an angry expression, and closed his eyes, knowing he was in a lot of trouble, and wishing he was far away, somewhere safe. There was a feeling as if he was being squeezed through a very small tube, and then a crack, and he felt terribly exhausted, but he was able to see that his uncle was nowhere in sight, before he passed out.

Pastor Jim had been expecting a quiet day, before a small boy appeared out of thin air in front of his house. The boy didn't look dangerous, but Pastor Jim was a hunter, and he knew that normal little boys don't appear out of thin air. He tried all the tests he knew, something made easier by the boy being unconscious, but he didn't react to anything, so he bandaged his leg and took him to the nearest hospital to get his broken arm set, and see what else was wrong with him, as he would't wake up. At the hospital he just told that he had found the boy, hurt and unconscious, outside his home, and had no idea who he was or how he had gotten there, not really a lie. He was told that the boy showed signs of neglect, but not outright abuse, as he was underweight but his only real injuries were a broken arm, probably from a fall, and a bad bite from a dog on his leg, they also told him that he would not be sent home, at least not without an investigation, as he was so thin he seemed almost to have been starved, and it seemed he had been abandoned, a crime in itself. They couldn't tell him why he was unconscious, the only thing that might have caused him to faint being the pain and low bloodsugar, which didn't explain why he hadn't woken up yet, but they told him not to worry for now, he just seemed to be sleeping.

Pastor Jim stayed there until he woke up half an hour later. It turned out the boy's name was Harry, and he had an english accent, but he refused to tell them his last name, where he was from and who he lived with, just telling them that he had no idea how he had ended up there, but the last thing he remembered was falling from a tree after hiding there from the dog who had bitten him, and he absolutely didn't want to return to his relatives. None of his injuries were serious, so after Pastor Jim said he could stay with him for now, and he had talked with a police officer and someone from Child Services, he was allowed to leave the hospital.

Once he got back home, pastor Jim asked him if something like that had ever happened to him before, to which he answered that once when he was hiding from some bullies they hadn't noticed him even if they should have been able to see him, but nothing like that, he added that his aunt and uncle often said he was a freak. He called Bobby to hear if he had any idea of what had happened, and kept an eye on Harry, but had concluded that whatever had happened, Harry probably wasn't the one responsible for it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Harry enjoyed living with pastor Jim, who had ended up getting custody of him, as there were no clues as to who he was or where he was from,and he refused to tell, only said that they would be happy he was gone. He also started teaching him the basics about the supernatural, so that even if he didn't become a hunter he would be able to protect himself, and it seemed like he had already had one encounter with it. Pastor Jim had gotten out of him all he remembered about how he had arrived, but it hadn't helped except by telling him that whoever or whatever had done it seemed to have wanted to help him.

The first hunters Harry met other than the pastor were the Winchesters, when John and Dean came through the area after a hunt and had some free time. John, being something of a suspicious bastard, had been wary of him at first, but the pastor had been able to convince him that Harry was an OK kid. Harry was fascinated by Dean, who ended up telling him stories about some of his strangest hunts, he also discovered something about him, when showing him his EMF meter: it went off in the vicinity of Harry, but the peak of emissions wasn't on the boy himself, and when they entered the church, it didn't follow, as if something supernatural, invisible, that couldn't enter hallowed ground was following him. It could be a ghost, and it might be protecting him, and as his parents had died when he was a baby, apparently in a car accident only he had survived, it was possible that it was one of his parents.

In the end they just decided to wait and see, not that they had any other choices: as a security measure everything he had with him when he arrived had been salted and burned, which meant the ghost was either bound to him, in which case they didn't know if there was anything they could do that would't do more harm than the (possible) ghost, or it was tied to its remains, which they had no idea where to even start looking for. So for now it was wait and see and teach the kid as much as possible about how to protect himself from the supernatural, Harry was probably the only kid in the world who went to school with juice to drink made with holy water (Bobby's idea).

Harry was a bright kid, and living in a caring (if not completely normal) environment brought it out, he did well at school, and seemed to be a sponge when it came to hunting information, once out of curiosity, on one of his phonecalls with Dean (who had become his hero of sorts) he had explained that one of the things that really motivated him was a confused nightmare of screaming, laughter and red eyes, they suspected it had something to do with a demon, but yet again had no idea what the connection to Harry was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Harry arrived home from school, but instead of being greeted by his surrogate father, he found the police, who told him Jim had been killed, probably in a robbery gone wrong. Harry doubted that was it, and knew enough about hunting to realize that the one responsible probably wasn't fully human. He also was observant enough to notice the traces of sulphur, which meant that it had been a demon. The police was already there, and someone asked if there was someone he could call, at first he called Dean Winchester, as he was probably the one he got on best with of Jim's hunter contacts, the problem was that Dean was far away, and on a hunt, so he couldn't come right now, so he called Caleb, who should be in the area, travelling from one hunt to the next. The police woman who was looking after him for now didn't exactly seem impressed with Caleb, but as Harry obviously trusted the man she let him leave with him, telling Caleb to stay avaiable, as they might have to ask Harry some questions later on.

So Harry left in Caleb's truck, after getting a change of clothing and a couple of knives the pastor had given him.

The next phonecall Dean got was even worse, as the demon who had killed the pastor, Meg, had captured both Harry and the hunter, she asked to talk to John, and when both the older hunters were as uncooperative as possible she killed Caleb, and told John she would do the same to Harry if he didn't give her the Colt, John agreed, planning to give her a fake one.

John was facing the demon that his sons had called Meg, who was holding Harry by his clothing in such a way that he could barely breathe, the boy, who he seemed to remember was 10 now, had tear tracks on his face, along with dried blood and some cuts and bruises, he seemed terrified, but was quiet now. -So, John, are you ready to hand over the gun to me? Then I'll let go of the little magical, lucky for me he's still so young-. John didn't even bother consider her words, and he refused to hand over the Colt before they let him go, and waited until he was behind him before handing over the gun, luckily none of Harry's injuries were dangerous, even if he had a slight limp and moved as if his ribs hurt. When the demon who had arrived there with Meg was told to check the Colt and realized there were no bullets John took it as his cue to run away, dragging Harry with him. The trap he had made with the holy water slowed their pursuers down, but it wasn't enough, as one of the demons had slashed the tires of the car, preventing them from escaping.

When their pursuers caught up with them John tried to shield the boy with his body, even if he knew it was most likely useless. Meg pinned them to a wall with her powers when the ghost appeared, she was wearing what looked like a nightdress, even if it was a little hazy, and had vibrant red hair, she also looked extremely angry, but not at the hunter. "Stay away from my baby!" with a gesture of her hand she trew Meg backwards, away from them. It was the first (and probably last) time John was happy to see a ghost, and a vengeful one at that, if he was any judge, he guessed she was Harry's mother, and that she was aware enough of what went on that she would just protect her son, her presence could certainly explain the EMF readings. Her form already seemed less corporeal, so she wouldn't be able to keep the two demons away for long, she probably realized this as well, because she spoke to her son "Baby, listen to mummy, close your eyes and think of somewhere safe, as hard as you can" Harry obeyed, and John had no choice but to whatch helplessly and hold onto the boy as she flew through them, then there was a disorientating feeling, and suddenly they were both sprawled on the floor of Sam and Dean's motel room.

After putting Harry to bed, as he was exhausted, they discussed what had happened "So the ghost saved you?" "Yes, she was able to hold her own against a demon at least for a little while, his mother is one scary lady" "What kind of ghost is she?" "My theory is that she is a vengeful ghost, and that she maybe was killed when Harry was still a baby, as that's what she called him, and she might have died trying to protect him from someone or something, and now will attack people who try to do the same, it might explain the readings, if she follow him, but has never made herself known, not even when he was kept prisoner, not before someone actually tried to kill him" "So what do we do about her?" "I don't know what we can do, we don't really know anything about her, and she hasn't hurt any innocents, if the only people she attack are would-be child killers I don't mind keeping her around for now" "Makes sense...so how did you actually get here? It looked like it was the same way Harry arrived to pastor Jim" "Not really sure, the ghost helped, but I think part of it was Harry, the demons called him a magical and said they were lucky he was still so young, but I have no idea what it means, might be something similar to a psychic, it might simply refer to that teleportation thing he does, his mum seemed to expect it, or there might be more, we'll probably learn more as he gets older, one way or another".

After some more talking without getting anywhere, they decided to take a break and regroup, and possibly find Harry somewhere reasonably safe to stay while the others went hunting again, for now they were heading for Singer's Salvage Yard.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Finally the Winchesters had reached Bobby's home, and caught him up with what had happened, Dean took care of putting the boy to bed, while the other 3 hunters looked up all the information they could get on demons, and told Bobby about the demons calling Harry a magical and about his mother's ghost, the older hunter agreed that she wasn't doing any harm, and there wasn't anything they could do about it anyway, as they still didn't know anything about her. They were still discussing what to do next, both when it came to find the Yellow Eyed Demon, and about Harry. Bobby said that the boy could stay with him for a while, but he didn't think he was the right person to take care of him for the long run.

Then suddenly Meg arrived, and attacked them, demanding the Colt, as she had discovered that the one John had given her was fake, but before she could hurt any of them she was caught by the Devil's Trap painted on the ceiling. Dean and Sam were surprised to see her, as they believed that she had died, while John confirmed that she was one of the demons who had killed Jim and Caleb, and captured Harry. Bobby explained to them that Meg was actually a girl that was possessed by a demon, and that the demon possessing her was probably the only reason she hadn't died of her injuries. Sam was the only one of the hunters slightly reluctant to perform the exhorcism even if it would kill her, but the others were able to convince him that she would be better off this way, at least she would be at peace then, while Sam read the exhorcism the others questioned the demon about the wereabouts of the other demons, but didn't get any answer until the demon was gone, when the human girl, while dying, thanked them and offered the clue 'sunrise'.

After checking on Harry, who was still sleeping despite the commotion, the Winchesters headed back to Jefferson City, to try and find at least the other demon working with Meg, as they seemed to be connected to the Yellow Eyed Demon, and hopefully could give them some information on it.

The next morning Bobby was woken up by Harry, still subdued by everything that had happened, but now that he was well rested and had calmed down and accepted what had happened, he wanted to know what was going on, and if possible help them. Bobby knew very little about children, his knowledge coming from the Winchester brothers, and he was aware they hadn't exactly had a normal childhood, and weren't a valid example on how to treat children, but he told Harry all he knew about what had happened, thinking he deserved to know after what he had been trough, but said that for now there didn't seem like there was anything he could do to help with those demons, and redirected the conversation onto the ghost of his mother, what she had been able to do, and what he had done.

Bobby wasn't worried, he was guessing the boy was some kind of psychic or something like that, a human born with something extra, and he thought it might be useful to know what that was. Harry was more talkative than he had ever been before about his past, but even so couldn't tell much: he was from Surrey, in England, and had lived with his aunt, uncle and cousin, who hated him, and called him a freak, they had told him his parents died in a car accident (probably a lie, his mother's ghost's behaviour was probably due to her being killed, perhaps dying to defend him), he had never done that teleportation thing before the time he arrived to Pastor Jim, and didn't think he would be able to do it again without help, as he had no idea how he had done it either time, with his relatives sometimes strange things happened around him when he was upset, nothing dangerous, and they didn't even know if it was him or the ghost, if it was him, it was probably tied to his emotions to some degree, perhaps some sort of authomatic defense, which was why nothing had happened later, as he was safe and happy, not that it seemed very reliable anyway.

Bobby then had Harry read some of his tamer (and easier to understand) texts about ghosts and other supernatural beings, while he heard some of his contacts and went through some of his books to look for anything that could fit what he had found out about Harry, since the demons seemed to recognize it (not that what they had called him were any use, magical was a little too generic). The closest he could find was a mention about some special priests in Ancient Egypt.

He spent the rest of the day and the next worrying about the Winchesters and working on cars, his day job as Harry called it, saying he was almost like a superhero, salvage yard at day, hunter at night. Harry didn't really seem interested in it, and spent most of the time playing with Rumsfield.

Then Sam called, they had killed the other one of the demons who had held Harry hostage, but Dean had then been injured by the Yellow Eyed one, which had gotten away, then the Impala had been hit by a truck driven by a demon, and now Dean was at the hospital in critical condition, the Impala was totaled as well, and Sam wanted Bobby's help to repair it. They agreed to meet at a wrecker's yard, so that he could have a look at it, and perhaps tow it back with him. He was considering wether to bring the boy or not, to see that at least Sam was OK, even if he was the one he knew least, having never met him before the kidnapping, but in the end decided to do so, getting away from the salvage yard woul probably be nice for him anyway, he reconsidered that when he almost got into a fight about the posdibility to repair the car, and the ingredients John had told Sam to get, which would be to summon a demon, then Harry asked to return to the hospital with Sam, to see Dean. Bobby let him, he had no idea what to do with him anyway, and Harry would be safe with them.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Sorry about the problems with this chapter, I have corrected it**

**Chapter 5**

Sam was starting to regret letting Harry come even before they got back to the hospital, as he had been told by the doctors and nurses that Dean probably wouldn't make it, and he knew how the boy looked up to his older brother, and considering what he had been through recently it didn't seem right having him witness this too.

Harry had been having the feeling that someone was there since he had arrived at the hospital, and he sometimes almost saw a person, at the edge of his vision, but he wasn't certain about it, and didn't tell Sam or John, seeing that they already had enough to worry about, but he was really relieved when Sam noticed something too, and figured out it was Dean, somehow, and helped him get the Ouja board he had found ready, so that they could communicate with him, but after a while he got bored of sitting there doing nothing, and he knew there was nothing he could do to help, so he went looking for John instead, but couldn't find him, and just wandered about around the hospital, before he returned to the room, and found that Dean had miraculously woken up and was perfectly fine now, because John had made a deal with a demon, exchanging his life for Dean's. He was happy for it, even if he felt a little guilty for it, knowing that John was dead because of it, but it was Dean he knew best, talked to almost regularly and admired a lot, while John was more of an acquaintance, and had always been a little distant, not to mention distrusting in the beginning.

After leaving the hospital a bit in a hurry, to avoid questions about Dean's recovery and John's misterious death, they (the Winchesters, Bobby and Harry) gave John a hunter's burial (salted and burned), then Sam and Dean left again, determined to find and kill the Yellow Eyed Demon, before it cold ruin someone else's life.

In the meantime, in an old castle in Scotland, empty for the summer, but which would be full of children in a little more than a months time, someone made a surprising but all things considered not unwelcome discovery.

Albus Dumbledore was surprised to see an excited professor McGonagall come almost running to his office, with one of the letters for the students "Albus!Albus! I was looking over the letters of the first year students which weren't sent automatically because none of the peolple they live with know about Hogwarts, and look what I found" she showed him the letter, adressed to one Harry Murphy, whose adress was in America "Why has a muggleborns from America been sent a letter from Hogwarts? Shouldn't his letter have come from one of the American schools?" "That's what I thought too, so I looked at the register, and found out that Murphy isn't his real surname, he must have been adopted or something like that, because the register says Harry Potter, when he disappeared 4 years ago he must somehow have ended up on America" "Yes, and their ignorance about magic is a good sign, as it means that his disappearance was probably an accident, not a kidnapping by some of Voldemort's supporters" "Who is going to deliver the letter? I don't think Hagrid is a good idea this time, his letter was marked with a warning, so his guardians has some pretty strong ideas regarding magic, it might be simply another case of parents who absolutely refuses to believe it's real, but considering the situation..." "You're right, I would have liked to go myself but am far too busy right now, I'll ask Severus, he knows about muggles and is well capable of taking care of himself, and I'm sure he can handle whatever situation he will find, even if he probably won't be happy about going".


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"So, Severus, tell us how it went" "Well, lets just say, that I believe that Madeye Moody must have some muggle relatives in America, and go from there..."

Since the family Potter was staying with was an unknown, Severus Snape had been sent, as he had both a more than adequate knowledge of the muggle world and was well capable of defending himself, in the worst cases. Potter's letter had the adress 'Harry Murphy, 2nd bedroom to the left, Singer's Salvage Yard, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA', which meant that he didn't usually use his own surname, they knew it was his letter from the Hogwarts registry, which made Snape think that he had no idea that he was famous, so while he would have to explain at least some of it, he wouldn't have an overly inflated ego, he also had orders from Dumbledore to explain about the blood protections, and the importance of Harry returning to live with the Dursleys.

He took an international portkey to the nearest airport, and then rented a car to get to the right adress. His first encounter was with a big dog staying outside, probably a watchdog, but it didn't stop him from reaching the door. He rang the doorbell, and the door was opened by a boy he was certain had to be Harry Potter, as he looked quite similar to his father at that age, but with eyes he had last seen on Lily. Instead of inviting him in, he yelled "Bobby! There's someone here, he's got a little odd clothes, all black!" it didn't bode well when it came to his manners, but the response of "Take him into the kitchen!" led him to believe that this way of welcoming strangers might be something he had been told to do to be prudent, and not a show of awful manners.

In the kitchen he was met by the person called Bobby, whom he presumed was the owner of the house and the one taking care of Potter, and told him "I'm here to deliver a letter adressed to Harry Murphy". The man didn't even talk to him at first, just offered him a glass of something looking like water, and told him to drink it, which he did, trusting that the man wasn't in the habit of poisoning people at random, as far as he could tell it was just water, but the man seemed to relax marginally afterwards, so it might not be so, then the man offered him a knife, he took it, first not understanding, then impressed once he saw it was silver, a test perhaps, which led to believe the water was too, but what kind of muggles were used totesting if someone was a werewolf? He looked around, this time with far more interest, and saw what had been painted above the door: he had seen it only once before, in a book from the Restricted Section of the library, it was a Devil's trap, meant to imprison people possessed by a demon.

"A Devil's Trap? Have you ever needed that?" "Yes, so about this letter to Harry, I'm guessing you're a magical, from one of those schools?" "Yes, I'm from Hogwarts, in the UK, he was signed up for it by his parents before they died, how do you know about it?" "Second time the kid did that teleportation thing of his we knew for a fact he was the one doing it, and wanted to make sure it wasn't anything dangerous, asked if anything else ever happened, then I did some reading and asked some people I know, a guy from Chicago had heard of a kid who was sent to one of those schools and did similar things, wasn't exactly a stretch to figure out, now, I'm all for learning what it's all about, but first you'll have to answer some questions, without the kid here".

The questions were not the standard ones most parents of muggleborns asked, they started with asking about something he had read about in the ancient Egypt, how they kept the magical society hidden, if they had anything to do with demons, what they knew about all kind of supernatural creatures,and what they did about them, if magic had any limits, what those were, if there were any laws against doing some things, if they had to do anything for their powers, if they needed anything to use them reliably, how wands were made and what they were made of... Snape didn't even know some of the answers, and had the distinct feeling he was being tested, and the reason Harry had been sent away was because things might turn ugly if Singer didn't like the answers he got, the worst part was that he realized both Bobby and Harry were part of a loose community with the same knowledge and mindset, and Bobby was actually fairly openminded for them, as others might have been less inclined to listen to his answers and more willing to reenact the witch burnings, and for the fact that whatever he said Bobby would not harm Harry for it, as well, as he hadn't done anything he should be condemned for, according to his customs, others might be far worse.

Once Snape had been interrogated to Bobby's satisfaction, Harry was called back, and they started on the questions more normally asked when delivering the letters, such as what the subjects were, how to get to the school, how to keep in touch once he was there and how to get the school things. Bobby had already agreed to let Harry go, but was a little worried about getting there, as it was so far away. Snape told them where to find the nearest place to buy supplies, and assured that the school coul send someone to get him before school started.

In the end he told both of them about the war with Voldemort, and why Harry was famous in the british wizarding community, including the part about there being a protection left by his mother, when he was with family, and he got another surprise "Well, I know about a protection of sorts from his mother, but unless he's related to the Winchesters, he doesn't need to be with relatives for it to work, and the protection is actually her being a vengeful ghost, who will try to prevent people from harming him" "What? Lily's ghost? She's become a vengeful ghost? Are you certain?" " Pretty certain, didn't know her name, but from what John said she's a redhead, and a pretty scary lady when pissed off" "Sounds like Lily all right, I might not be the best person to tell him about his parents, even if I used to be friends with Lily at school, and I have to leave soon, but most of the teachers will be able to tell him about them".


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sam had been coerced into taking Harry to buy his school supplies, while Dean went to check about a message to John from someone named Ellen who said she could help him, as Bobby thought there was less chance of him freaking out about it all than Dean, and he couldn't go because he had a lot to do at the salvage yard at the moment. Bobby had told the brothers what Snape had told him right after he left, along with what he had found out on his own, which was that Harry was one of what the demons had called magicals, who were basically psychics with more powerful and versatile, albeit generally similar among each other, abilities, not to be confused with witches who got their powers through deals, even if they too called themselves that (the women, men were wizards), they weren't inherently good or evil, and had their own hidden communities, a bit isolated from normal humans, and because of that most hunters didn't know about them, as they went out of their way not to attract attention, and had laws made to keep them secret, among with people with the job of enforcing said laws.

The entrance to the magical shopping center was in the back of a tourist shop selling crystals and other things that might hint of the more harmless supernatural, such as dreamcatchers, some herbs and some amulets, mostly for things like love or luck (and completely useless) but some in the back were for protection, and Sam recognized at least some of them as having real protective symbols on them, so while he waited for an opportunity to talk with the shopkeeper without getting overheard he found some he intended to buy, along with some useful, hard to find herbs. Finally the shop emptied a little, and they were led into the back, where there was a door they hadn't been able to see before being showed it (Sam asked how it was possible, but was only told it was a fidelius charm, and the man had no idea how it worked, but the door was invisible until he showed it to them, to prevent tourists to stumble upon it by accident), they were also told there were several other entrances and exits as well, but most needed someone with a wand to use them.

Once they passed through the door they found themselves in a big shopping center, which would have looked completely normal, if not for the clothes some of the people were wearing, the names of the shops and the things exposed in the shopwindows. "So what do you need?" Harry took out his shopping list and gave it to him "Lets see...we might as well start with the trunk, to have somewhere to keep your things...actually first we'll have to go to the bank to get the money, Bobby said that Snape guy told him you should have money in there".

They finished swiftly in the bank, Sam doing his best to be nonchalant about the goblins working there, who very obviously weren't human, as they took out nearly twice the among of money the teller had told them most first year students needed for the basic supplies, so that they wouldn't have to return there later, then they went in look for a place to buy a trunk, and found 'Lyzander's Luggage, trunks, bags and all kind of containers for the practical witch and wizard1. When they entered an old woman approached them immediately "Hello! First year at a magical school? Would you prefer the classical trunk look or something less bulky? Don't worry all our luggages are bigger on the inside, and have weight-reducing charms, the price depend on the inside size as well as other charms applied, other than the standard ones" they went to look at some duffel bags, which looked like completely normal ones, but the woman told them that they either were much deeper or wider than they looked, or there was more than one compartments on the inside, and which one you got was selected before you opened it (or a combination of the two), and the weight you felt was either that of the currently selected compartment or a predefined one, the shop assistant told them that the one with compartments the same size as the bag, and the weight of the selected one, were safe to use by or around non magicals, as there was a charm to prevent people from noticing the compartment changing mechanism, Harry bought himself one that was recommended for students, as it should be more than big enough to contain everything a students might bring, and had two bigger compartments, one made to contain the cauldron and potions instruments, and one for a flying broom, while Sam bought one each for himself and Dean with 4 compartments the same size as the bag.

Next they went to 'Students strument store', where they had everything else on the list except for the uniform, wand and books, then to 'McTobrul's:wands, staffs, crystals and other foci for all kinds of customers', this was the first place that really looked magical, the other had looked like completely normal shops if you overlooked some of the things sold, this place however was different: after entering there were 3 more doors, each marked for the kind of customer the things inside were meant for 'standard and basic', 'alternative and traditional', 'advanced and specialized', they chose the first and entered a room completely filled with long, rectangular boxes, except for a shelf holding several crystals, the shop assistant just asked "First year?" and when they nodded proceeded to take down and open the boxes, which held wands, give them to him to hold and snatch them away when nothing happened except sometimes a few coloured sparks, until one produced a veritable shower of blue sparks, and he pronounced that to be the right wand for him, then informed him it was a holly wand with a core made of phoenix feather, told him the price and offered to sell him a wand holster as well, which he bought.

Then there was a quick stop at a clothes shop, where they told the young woman who greeted them that he was going to Hogwarts, at which she produced a measuring band that moved on it's own, and soon they were done there too. In the bookshop Harry went looking for the books on the list, while Sam went in look for anything that looked like it might be useful for hunting, then when they both were done they asked one of the shop assistants if there were any other books he would recommend for Harry, and added another book with safety instructions and some beginners tips for potions.

Now that they had finished what they come for they went sightseeing a little, before leaving through a portal, which let them exit from a wall in a back alley not far from where they had parked.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Sam and Harry had just left the magical shopping center when Sam found out that he had several missed calls from Dean, so he called back, to hear what it was about. Dean told him that the adress the message to their father had been from was that of a place called Harvelle's Roadhouse, a meeting place for hunters, owned by Ellen, who knew John, and had called him to offer to help against the demon. At the Roadhouse Dean had met Ash, who was going to see if he managed to track down the Yellow Eyed Demon, but it would take him some time, and in the meantime Dean had volunteered to take care of a hunt Ellen had found nearby, he had called to ask if Sam could help him.

After some arguing on the phone, they decided that Sam should come, and bring Harry with him, as it should be safe for him since the ghost or whatever it was that was responsible for the killings hadn't hurt the children, only the adults, and they would try to keep him away from the action.

Harry was happy he had been allowed to come on the hunt, both because it was a little exciting to be included in a hunt (even if he wasn't allowed to partecipate) and because said hunt was taking place at a circus, even if it was being taken down right now. Both brothers had told him to stay away from clowns, for safety, even when he was pretty certain there was nothing supernatural about them, they suggested pretending to be afraid of clowns, and when he said that was embarassing, Dean told him not to worry about that, as Sam really was afraid of clowns, and he was an adult.

Their initial plan was to walk around with the EMF readers until they found the cursed object the ghost presumably was bound to, but there were two problems: the fact that the object could be anything and Lily's ghost setting off the EMF meters when Harry was nearby. This meant that Harry couldn't be close to them while they searched, and it would take them a lot of time, because of this they decided to ask for a job at the circus, so that they could stay there for longer without attracting attention. They had some trouble convincing the circus owner, Mr Cooper, that they really wanted to work in a circus, but in the end they managed to get jobs there. The plan was for Sam and Dean to keep their EMF meters on while litter picking (the job they had gotten) while Harry would wander around on his own, enjoying the circus and keeping his eyes open for anything strange, especially clowns behaving strangely, or people seeing things that noone else could. They were unable to find the cursed object they thought was responsible for the deaths, but Sam discovered that there was a human skull in the funhouse, which meant that it could be it wasn't a cursed object at all, but actual human remains a ghost was tied to.

The first real breakthrough, or potential so, was when they saw a girl who claimed to see a clown, even if there wasn't one where she pointed. They decided that they were going to stake out the house of the girls family that night in the car Dean had arrived in, while Harry would wait in the other one duetter away, as they didn't want him to get into danger, or witness what might happen in that house. It turned out that it wasn't a ghost after all, but something else, that was corporeal and could turn invisible. They were able to both save the family and see the clown responsible for the killings, but unfortunately the family thought that they had attacked them, so they were forced to flee, and dump Dean's car in case it was recognized, luckily they had the other.

Now that they knew a little more about how the killings happened, they called Ellen to hear if she had any idea of what could be responsible, as they hadn't found anything matching what they had seen in their fathers journal. Ellen told them it might be a rakshasa, a hindi creature eating flesh, capable of turning invisible and needing an invitation to enter a home. They would need a brass knife to kill one, and while Dean went to see if the blind knife thrower had one, Sam was going to see if Mr Cooper, their main suspect so far, had any bugs in his bed, as that was one of the caractheristics of the rakshasa, while Harry would wait in the car yet again, parked a few streets away from the circus.

After killing the rakshasa, who had turned out to be the blind man, they returned to the Roadhouse, to see if Ash had found anything. He hadn't, but he had created a system that would alert him at once if the signs that accompanied the demon's appearances turned up anywhere. Upon hearing Harry's story (and berating the Winchesters for bringing him along on a hunt) she offered to let him stay with her and her daughter Jo at the Roadhouse until he was leaving for his boarding school (they hadn't told her what kind of boarding school it was, only that his parents had paid for him to go there before they died) and they accepted, as it was probably a better alternative for him than the brothers (constantly out hunting) or Bobby (who didn't really know what to do with children), they told them that they or Bobby were going to come and get Harry to send him off to school, so she didn't have to worry about that.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

On the 30th of august Bobby went to the Roadhouse to get Harry and take him to his home, then on the 31st another one of the teachers had come to get him, a very short and cheerful man who introduced himself as professor Flitwick and had no idea of how to blend in among non magical people, Bobby drove him to meet him at the nearest airport, from where they took an international portkey to Heatrow airport, in London, then the tiny professor sidealong apparated him (a fancy way of saying that the professor used what Bobby called "that teleportation thing" and took him with him) to a place called the Leaky Cauldron, where he would spend the night before taking the Hogwarts express at 11 from Kings Cross station, from a hidden platform called 9 3/4.

He did a little sightseeing in the english wizarding community's main shopping alley, Diagon Alley, which had it's entrance at the back of the pub, then went to bed and tried to sleep even if he wasn't tired yet, as he would have to get up at a time that was early from his point of view, because of the change of time. On the 1st he was very happy that he didn't have to worry about packing, because he had the feeling it was still really early when he was woken up, so that the professor could apparate him to the train station and then leave for Hogwarts. They were a little early, the platform wasn't very crowded, and Harry found an empty compartment in the front of the train, took out one of his schoolbooks at random (herbology) and started reading while he waited for more students to arrive.

He was soon joined by another boy who asked to sit there, as his compartment was the first quiet one he had found, hen the boy took out a book by the title "The beginning potioneer, how to make potions not poisons" and started reading, without even introducing himself, leaving Harry a little perplexed, the next student was attracted by the quiet as well, but at least she seemed to be sociable enough to introduce herself, she was Hermione Granger, and the other boy was Anthony Goldstein, Harry and Hermione started talking about what they were looking forward to most, and how their introduction to magic (the official one) had been. Upon discovering that both of Anthony's parents were magical, and thus he had grown up with all of this, they teamed up to interrogate him about anything he could tell them about magic, the magical society, customs, Hogwarts, etc.

By the time another boy came by asking if anyone of them had seen his toad, Anthony was so tired of the questions that he volunteered immediately, and Hermione and Harry went as well, they spilt up, two going in each direction, Hermione and Anthony, Neville and Harry, they found no toad, but Harry and Neville were unlucky enough to meet a trio of bullies, who thought they were better than them because of the families they were from, Neville seemed scared of them, part of that was simply him being afraid of standing up to bullies, but part of it was the fact that Draco Malfoy, the one of them who was the leader, was from a very rich family, and his father was influential, also they all 3 had fathers who had been Death Eaters (as the followers of Voldemort were known), but had gotten away from jail because they said they were being controlled.

Whatever the reasons for Neville's fear, the other boys noticed, and were arrogant, they also noticed Harry's clothes and deduced (correctly) that he had been raised by non magical people (or as the wizards said, muggles) and deduced (incorrectly) that his parents were muggles as well, something that made him believe (for no reason Harry could see) that he was better than him.

Harry ended that situation by punching Malfoy, and then leaving with Neville before the others knew how to react. In the end they returned to the compartment, unsuccesfull, as did the other two, and they asked Neville (who seemed quite happy about seeing Malfoy getting punched) if he wanted to sit with them. Neville agreed happily, but was worried that the others in his compartment would mind, but Harry assured him that they would be happy to have him there, Hermione to have someone else to ask questions about the magical society, Anthony because it meant Hermione had someone else to prester for information.

The rest of the train ride was uneventful, and they spent their time talking, until Hermione reminded the boys that they should get changed because they would arrive at Hogwarts soon. At the train station the first years were separated from the older students, and a huge man called Hagrid led to a lot of small boats that took them across the Black Lake, there they were met by the deputy headmistress, professor McGonagall who welcomed them to the school, gave them a speech about the school houses, and left them in a chamber to wait until the sorting would begin. Harry was surprised when the ghosts arrived, and a little scared, because of what he had learnt about the ghosts hunters had to deal with, but it didn't take him long to realize that these weren't like that kind of ghost, or like his mother, as they weren't capable of interacting with things at all.

After they had managed to work up quite a bit of nervousness and fear by guessing how they would be sorted, they were led into the Great Hall, where everyone else was, and discovered that the only thing they would have to do was put on a hat.

**A/N:there is a poll on my profile about which house Harry will be sorted into**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Professor McGonagall had started calling up all the students by name, and Harry found himself hoping they would call him up as Harry Murphy, not Harry Potter, the fact that the letter had been adressed to Murphy was a good sign, but these people knew his old name, or at least professor Snape did. When he had left the Dursleys he had just wanted to leave that part of his life behind it, and had been terrified of being sent back, so he had never told anyone his whole name, and while he now knew that even if someone was cruel enough to send him back, he could get away, and there were several people (most of them hunters or former hunters) who would be willing to let him stay with him, but all the same his old name reminded him of several bad memories he would rather stayed forgotten.

Another reason he absolutely didn't want people to know his name was the fact that Snape had told him and Bobby that at least among the british magical population he was famous for surviving a curse that had killed all other people who had been hit by him,and at the same time a magical massmurder (the one trying to kill him) had disappeared, and a lot of people believed he was responsible for this. To Harry it all seemed stupid, and he wanted nothing to do with it, so when after "Moon Lily" the next name called was "Murphy, Harry" he felt very relieved. He was surprised to hear a voice talking as soon as he put on the Sorting Hat "Well, well, well, Mr Murphy, or should I say Mr Potter? You won't be as easy to sort as some students...there's ambition here, and you can be cunning when you want to...but you also like knowledge, even if not for it's own sake...you want to know so that you will be prepared for whatever you go up against...and you're quite brave at that, not many first years students even know demons are real, let alone have ever had the misfortune to meet one, and yet you're willing to go up against one, to protect the people you care for...all the houses would be happy to have you, but I think the best place for you is...RAVENCLAW!"

Harry went to the ravenclaw table, and sat down next to Anthony, since he already knew him from the train, the place next to him was taken by a girl called Padma Patil, who had a twin who was sorted into gryffindor. Finally the sorting was over, and it was time to eat, by now Harry was so used to strange things that he didn't even react when the food just appeared on the table, and they all tucked in hungrily. An older girl, Penelope Clearwater, told the first year students that she was one of the ravenclaw prefects, so if they had any problems they should come to her, or the other fifth year prefect, Robert Hillard, whom she pointed out to them.

Once they were no longer ravenous the first years started talking, and soon the conversation turned to acidental magic "I used to change the color of my clothes every time my mother bought me anything pink, my mother was going spare trying to understand how it happened" said a girl named Sue Li "I apparated once, at school, to get away from some bullies, and ended up at the other end of the corridor" this was a boy Harry seemed to remember was Terry Boots "Wow, that's actually quite difficult to do, at least when you do it on purpose, you need a license to be allowed to do it, and can only get it once you are 17, have anyone else of you apparated by accident?" "I have, twice, the first time I was chased by a dog, and then once there was...a robbery in the shopping centre I was in, and I apparated away, taking uncle John with me, it took him some time to accept what had happened".

He found out that Sue, Terry, Kevin Entwhistle and Sally Smith were from non magical families, and like him hadn't known about the magical community, nor that what they did was magic, before they got their Hogwarts letter, while Anthony, Padma and another boy named Stephen Cornfoot who had barely contributed to the conversation at all were from wizarding families, and didn't know much about the non magical society, as at least in the UK the two were quite different, and had little interaction, while the remaining students were from families that had to do with both, and as such knew what the differences were.

After everyone had finished eating, the headmaster gave some start of year announcements, most of which seemed rather obvious, except from the rule about staying away from that 3rd floor corridor and the comment about a painful death, which made him curious. Then the 5th year prefects showed them the way to their house, which was located in one of the towers. Harry was still quite awake, because of the time difference, but as he saw his classmates stumble half asleep, he wondered how many of them would remember the way.

Once inside their common room, Penelope Clearwater directed them to their dormitories, and told them when breakfast would be, then they all went to bed.


	11. Chapter 11

For Harry, the time at Hogwarts seemed to fly. He really enjoyed most of his lessons, and was making a lot of friends, he still missed Pastor Jim terribly, and sometimes the friends he had had while he lived with him, but it was better now. He didn't quite know what to think of some of his classes: Charms was his favourite so far, and along with Transfiguration he could see how useful it could be in the future, when they learned to do more complicated things, but so far the spells they were learning weren't of much practical use yet, Herbology was interesting, although it didn't seem that useful for him so far, as while it was a good way to get potion ingredients, you could just buy them, potions was another subject he could see the use of, unfortunately Professor Snape seemed to make it his mission to make it as unpleasant as possible, except for the Slytherins, from what he had heard (they shared that class, and flying, with the Hufflepuffs, and herbology with the Slytherins), Defence against the Dark Arts (DADA) could have been really interesting (and probably the most useful for him, as he wanted to be a hunter) but Professor Quirrel was a terrible teacher, as he stuttered so badly it was hard to follow, didn't explain clearly, and frankly didn't know the subject that well either, while History of Magic and Astronomy seemed both useless and rather boring to him, especially History.

He had gotten to know all of his housemates, but spent most of his time with Michael and Sally, as well as Hermione and Neville. His friendship with Michael had started after their first flying lesson, when Harry had discovered that he absolutely loved flying, and the other boy had introduced him to Quidditch, the two of them had also taken it upon themselves to convince their friends that flying was great, despite the rocky start they had had, when Neville had broken his wrist during their first flying lesson. Someone had commented that there had to be something wrong, as it usually were ravenclaws that were quiet and bookish, and gryffindors who were the sport enthusiasts.

His friendship with Sally had started in a completely different manner, and she didn't spend so much time with the group, instead she and Harry tended to pair up whenever they had to do some practical work, or they went around exploring the castle. She had told Harry that she had always wanted to be an explorer, and discovering magic hadn't changed her global, just maybe the how and where she would do so, just like Harry still wanted to be a hunter, but now intended to use magic for it as well, not that he had told any of his new friends, as far as they knew, his adopted family was a bit peculiar and quite suspicious of magic, but that was it, he told noone they were hunters, and as far as they knew his adopted father had died in a robbery gone wrong.

It didn't seem long before a whole month had passed, and everyone was looking forward to the Halloween Feast that evening. A few of the muggleborn first years were complaining that they wouldn't get to dress up, but apparently that custom wasn't followed in the wizarding world, it was Michael who explained to the group of friends that a lot of British wizards also celebrated the death (or at least disappearance) of Voldemort on this day, while Neville just mumbled something about him and his Gran not celebrating, which led Harry to believe that something might have happened to his parents at about that time.

While Hermione didn't get on so well with the other gryffindor girls, she had gotten to know several of the ravenclaws by hanging around Harry and Michael, which was why, when Padma heard from her sister that she was crying in the bathroom after a cruel comment from Ron Weasley, Sue went to get her, while all the school got to enjoy the sight of an enraged Padma going up to Ron at lunch, slapping him, and telling him he was a pathetic, insensitive prat, and had better apologise to Hermione as soon as possible if he didn't want to get hexed, after which she informed him that the Slytherins might be the ones who used them more often, but the ravenclaws knew a lot of hexes and curses too, and Hermione was their friend. By then Ron's face was the same colour as his hair, and he was painfully aware that about 3/4 of the girls in the school seemed to be glaring at him.

Apparently Hermione had never had any real friends before coming to Hogwarts, and was surprised at so many people taking her side against Ron, it had really cheered her up, to the point she was almost happy it had almost happened, so she was astounded when that evening, right before curfew, Harry and Sally, one of the ravenclaw girls she didn't know so well, but knew was friends with Harry, came to get her for some extra 'cheering up'. Apparently they had spent a lot of time exploring, and discovered several interesting places, such as the kitchens, full of house elves, small cheerful creatures who seemed to love working and were more than happy to give them anything they might want, even if they weren't supposed to be there, then there were a series of secret passages and shortcuts, and they concluded the guided tour by showing her the reason (or perhaps means) of the 'painful death' in the 3rd floor corridor, which was a three headed dog guarding something under a trapdoor, the two explorers had found the dog when they had gotten lost one night, and had later discovered by careful testing that if they opened the door but didn't enter the cerberus wouldn't attack. They concluded the night by organizing a harmless prank on Ron with the help of the house elves.

The next morning, when Ron ate breakfast and turned completely neon green, he first suspected the twins, but it was a simpler prank than their usual ones, so when they denied being the ones responsible (loudly proclaiming to be hurt anyone thought they would do something so unimaginative) he believed him, and it was then confirmed when Hermione, looking a bit guilty, told him that Harry, one of the ravenclaws she hung out with, had said the colour changing potion would last only half an hour. They both decided that now they were even, and Ron discovered that not all ravenclaws were bookworms, sometimes the thirst for knowledge took other forms, like Sally who liked discovering places, or Harry's curiosity about dark creatures and such. Harry was a little strange, but a nice enough guy, and he seemed used to retaliation through pranks, from his older cousins, so even if he wasn't really a prankster like the twins, he would prank someone if he felt they deserved it.

For Neville, Hogwarts had been far better than expected, he had made several friends, and while he wasn't particularly good at practical magic, especially potions, his friendship with Hermione (and some of the ravenclaws, even if to a lesser degree, despite the stereotypes) meant that he at least knew the theory really well, and after Ron made Hermione cry, the other three boys were a lot more accepting about him being friends with the 'bookworms', even if they still kept to themselves when outside the dorm, when they were inside it they always tried to include him, starting with when they started making up more and more crazy theories on how the troll which had gotten in during the Halloween Feast had managed to get past the wards. This new friendship was the reason why he offered Ron to come and stay with him and his grandmother during Christmas, since his parents would be visiting his brother Charlie in Romania, since there wouldn't be anyone else at school except a few 5th and 7th year Ravenclaws studying for the exams, after hearing that Ron had been invited to a friends home, the twins had been quick to get an invitation too, while their brother Per y would stay, to study.

Harry was really looking forward to seeing Bobby and the Winchesters again, at Christmas, so when Professor McGonagall had gone around asking who would be staying at school he immediately had told her he would be returning home, before asking how he would do it, she had told him to ask Flitwick to organize it, but he would probably be taking a portkey again.


End file.
